BU team will try its hand at trivia

Feb. 13, 2001

Contestants will test their knowledge at College Bowl

By DENISE GORZELL

Reporter

A team from Baylor is preparing to compete in the Regional College Bowl Tournament Feb. 16 to 18 at the University of Texas in San Antonio. College Bowl is sponsored by the Association of College Unions International, which considers the competition to be the 'varsity sport of the mind.'

College Bowl is a question-and-answer game played between two teams of four players each. Teams score points by correctly answering questions asked by the moderator. Contestants answer questions in areas such as science, history and literature. Individual team members use a buzzer to answer a toss-up question. If the individual team member answers correctly, the team is then given a bonus question.

The Baylor team was determined by a campus-level qualifying tournament that was held in November. Team members include Erik Chandler, a West Palm Beach, Fla., junior and team captain; Marcus D. Johnson, a Converse sophomore; Sarah Pemelton, a Mercedes junior; and Gary Rees, an Eagle, Idaho senior. Dr. Randy Wood, professor of curriculum and instruction and director of the Center for Christian Education, serves as the team's faculty advisor.

The team has been working hard to prepare for the upcoming tournament.

'We have old questions from previous rounds, play Trivial Pursuit, and watch 'Jeopardy,'' Rees said.

Fifteen regional tournament winners, as well as a wild-card team will advance to the National College Bowl Tournament at California State University in Los Angeles April 27 to 29.

Baylor's region includes teams from Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas.

'There is really tough competition,' Chandler said.

'We will try our best and have a lot of fun at the same time,' Pemelton said.

College Bowl was created in 1953 and has provided the arena for the fastest minds in school to demonstrate their skills under the fire of varsity competition. In all, over 500 schools have competed in the program. Sixty-four teams now compete in the National Championship tournament annually.